XXXI RIVERSIDE LETTERS 251 



bloom and to try the experiment* I was led 

 to great expectations by the representation 

 given of the plant in the nurseryman's cata- 

 logue. The illustrations in these catalogues 

 must always be regarded with extreme caution 

 or disappointment will frequently ensue : then 

 again, nurserymen have a way of sending you 

 such tiny specimens of the plants you order, 

 that unless great care is taken, they perish 

 soon after you have planted them. The fine 

 clumps of good things that I have had given 

 me from time to time by generous friends 

 have never failed to prosper. 



Mrs. Hawkins, of Ilfracombe, to whom I 

 am indebted for some bee stories given in 

 Letter XII., also sent me the following in- 

 teresting notes on starlings and rooks : 



" You say the starling is infested with 

 vermin, so also is the house-martin to an 

 alarming degree. The martin, unlike 



* In a letter that I received quite recently, Mr. Skirving informs 

 me that he has since verified for himself, in the Botanical Gardens at 

 Edinburgh,'the curious property that this plant possesses of emitting 

 inflammable gas. 



